Decontamination

Decontamination is the combination of processes, including cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation used to render a reusable item safe for use on patients or handled by staff. Decontamination of reusable medical devices and equipment is an essential procedure and must always be done in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions and current guidelines.

Cleaning

Cleaning is defined as the physical removal of accumulated deposits by washing with a general-purpose detergent (GPD), followed by thorough drying. This process will reduce the numbers of micro-organisms and remove dirt, grease and organic matter.

Disinfection

Disinfection is a process that kills or inactivates organisms but not all bacterial spores

Sterilisation

Sterilisation is the complete removal of all organisms including spores. This concept is absolute, that is an item of equipment is either sterile or not sterile.

Approved Wipes

Approved wipes (clinell universal sanitising wipes) may be used for most patient equipment as they clean and disinfect.

Decontamination and reprocessing of equipment

Re-usable equipment

It is vital that re-usable equipment is effectively decontaminated between each patient, (barrier nursed or not), to prevent the transmission of infection.
Alcohol wipes fix organic matter to surfaces and are not to be used for cleaning patient equipment unless specifically recommended by the manufacturers.
Clinell universal wipes may be used for cleaning smaller pieces of patient equipment, as they clean and disinfect.
Commodes should be cleaned with universal wipes unless the patient has suspected or confirmed Clostridium difficile in which case Clinell sporicidal wipes should be used.
Diagnostic and moving and handling equipement should be cleaned with universal wipes unless the patient has suspected or confirmed Clostridium difficile in which case Clinell sporicidal wipes should be used.

Waste Management

Waste from healthcare settings may be toxic, hazardous or infectious and therefore needs to be properly segregated, handled, transported and disposed of to ensure that it does not harm staff, patients, the public or the environment.

All staff have a duty of care to ensure that waste is segregated and disposed of correctly.

Staff can facilitate the correct segregation of waste by placing the correct bin in the correct place.

For example, place black domestic waste bins next to hand wash sinks for the paper towels.

Please also note that yellow clinical waste bins should be used for all waste in barrier rooms.

Types of waste:

Clinical Waste - Any item contaminated with blood or body fluids including sharps.
Hazardous Waste - Such as cytotoxic products.
Domestic Waste - All other items of waste e.g. paper towels, wrapping from dressing packs, newspapers and flowers etc.

Back to modules

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse